Cheryl's adding extra butter to her popcorn when Toni appears (if she's breaking her seemingly life-long diet tonight, she might as well go all out, right?). She's pretty sure she hasn't had popcorn in years now.
"Is that a cherry cola for Cheryl Bombshell?"
God, that voice. She'd recognize it in her sleep by now.
"I'm seriously convinced you're stalking me." Cheryl half turns and finds Toni shouldering her bag and her eyes look pretty in the neon lighting of the movie theatre. Cheryl almost tells her so.
"I came with Kevin and Fogarty to watch a movie. Isn't third wheeling just the best?!" Toni half-heartedly raises a fist, feigning excitement, and Cheryl can't help but crack a smile. "You know the old saying: Gays gotta stick together."
Cheryl's never heard of that saying and she's pretty sure Toni made it up just now but it serves its purpose — Cheryl raises an eyebrow.
"You're..." Gay? Even after all this time, Cheryl can't bring herself to say the words. She'd identified as such a long time ago, before Heather, but it's still so fucking difficult to say gay or lesbian — not that she's ever really told anyone.
"Not... technically," Toni leans onto the counter and steals popcorn off Cheryl's tray, "Bisexual. But I do prefer girls."
Cheryl doesn't really say anything but, then again, she doesn't really need to. Of course Toni likes girls. Her name wouldn't be engraved behind Cheryl's left shoulder if she didn't.
"So. Um," Toni doesn't really ever shut up but Cheryl doesn't mind, honestly, "watching a movie by yourself?"
"Didn't have plans to but it seemed like the best option to get away from home for a couple of hours."
Toni looks at her — like, really looks at her — long and hard and then she nods as if she understands, as if all of Cheryl's secrets are written all over her face and it just took someone to look closer than usual to discover them all. It scares her, so she looks away, at her popcorn. It's shiny from all the butter that will travel directly to her thighs and arms.
"If you want to be alone then that's fine — you just say the word and I shall be on my way... but I want to stick around, if that's okay."
It's more than okay, and Cheryl tells her so. Toni grins, this silly little smile that maybe gives Cheryl a glimpse of Toni as a child, happy and carefree. Deep down, very deep down, Cheryl wishes that they'd met earlier. Much earlier. Little kids early. Maybe everything would be different — maybe Cheryl would be different. Heather wouldn't have happened, for starters, and sure, Jason would've still died but Toni would've been there, at least.
The universe really is fucked up for not letting them meet until now. God knows Cheryl could've used someone as selfless and kind and caring as Toni throughout her whole life. At least... at least she has her now. That's something.
It's everything.
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Sick of losing soulmates (Cheryl Blossom & Toni Topaz)
Fanfiction"Toni looks at her - like, really looks at her - long and hard and then she nods as if she understands, as if all of Cheryl's secrets are written all over her face and it just took someone to look closer than usual to discover them all." Or; you hav...
